Newel: Valve Is Moving To Linux Because Windows 8 Will Be A Catastrophe

Gabe Newell, the co-founder and managing director of Valve, has made a rare appearance at Casual Connect where he prophesized that Windows 8 will be a catastrophic failure for Microsoft.

Valve has already announced plans to port Steam and its games library to Linux; A decision now being justified by Newell as a precautionary move to protect the company’s business from the eminent Windows 8 failure.

“The big problem that is holding back Linux is games. People don’t realize how critical games are in driving consumer purchasing behavior,” he said.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It’s a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”

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WELL ONLY REASON MOST PEOPLE AREN'T USING LINUX IS GAMING AS SOON AS THE STEAM CLIENT HITS LINUX IM OFF WINDOWS OHH AND ,BTW HES NOT TELLING YOU TO LEAVE WINDOWS. HES JUST SAYING HES GIVING US AN EXTRA OPTION AND AS A MEMBER OF THE LINUX COMMUNITY I AM VERY VERY HAPPY TO SEE THIS HAPPENING. I OWN OVER 40 GAMES ALL ON STEAM I CAN NOW PLAY ON LINUX THAT MEANS I CAN RUN AT HIGHER SPEEDS BETTER FPS, AND WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO KEEP A SYSTEM THAT REQUIRES RESOURCES TO RUN RESOURCES TO RUN THE RESOURCES THAT ACTUALLY PLAY YOUR GAME ? THE BIGGEST PROB UBUNTU HAS IS COMMAND LINE BULL WHICH BTW IS BEING WORKED ON OH DID I MENTION EVERY THING IS FREE AND YOU CAN EVEN RUN IT OFF A LIVE CD NOT 20GIG INSTALL.ALSO MY PC HAS 16GIGS WORTH OF RAM ,WHICH WINDOWS ONLY ALLOWS ME TO USE CAUSE I BOUGHT ULTIMATE WIN 7 ,DO YOU THINK THAT'S FAIR? MS CAN LIMIT THE ABILITY OF YOUR HW BASED ON THE OS YOU BUY THAT'S WRONG. WITH LINUX I WONT HAVE THAT PROBLEM AND NEITHER WILL YOU!!!! DON'T BE A DICKTARD AND LEARN A LIL BIT ABOUT YOUR OS BEFORE YOU KNOCK OURS JUST SAYING

'Command Line' (it isn't called this in Linux) isn't a problem - it's how things work. And Android is terrible, three people I know have an Android phone, the other few hundred either have a Lumia or an iPhone. And just because something is 'free' it doesn't mean it's any good, let alone better - it's often quit the opposite. And why would you want to run something of a slow DVD instead of a SATAIII SSD? That's craziness. And ANY 64-bit edition of windows will let you use way, way more than 16 gb of ram. this is just the beginning of what is wrong and terrible with your post. AND ALL CAPS MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A CHILD.

Maybe you've not got how influential THE WORDS OF GABE are. It could be just because I bend over for Valve and Steam and all of their productions, but if they said move to Linux, I'd be there. I'm sure many thousands of people are in the same frame of mind as I, and will follow.

You sir are and idiot (the OP too). Gabe isnt trying to convince anyone to move to linux, learn to read please. All he's saying is that windows 8 wont be as popular as windows 7 and he is probably right. Watch one of the videos microsoft released demonstrating windows 8, its the kind of OS that would be great for a tablet or other touch based devices but horrible for mouse based devices. Please dont bother replying because (as evidenced by your post) you can't interpret text properly.

1) "You sir"? Go back to 2005 2) Read the rest of the comments you fucktard, I have no time to explain this to meaningless small-minded children like you who can't even read between some fat guys two lips. 3) You clearly haven't used the Windows 8 Previews and if you think Metro is Gabe's problem with it you clearly haven't been listening to a single word he's said, you've just read the headline and injected your own pathetic luddite attitude into his mouth. Talk about 'not being able to read' you ********-muching aspie. And 4) Be a little more respectful next time. And learn to interpret yourself, I think they have group sessions for guys like you ;) Please don't bother reply because (as evidenced by your post) you can't get Gabe's fat throbbing **** out of your mouth.

When did he say he would stop supporting windows?
- He didn't
Why would he think everyone will switch to linux?
- He's preparing for windows 8 to suck, which it will at first for sure.
- He's not forcing you to switch

Stupidity? 'Bane'? Instead of providing an argument you're just attacking posters. Good one. How about "You're a flaming ****** and the bane of all the other bronies"?
And he's abandoning windows because he's not saying "People will stick with Windows 7 - and so will we". He's saying "People won't keep what they have, they will switch to Linux just like us".

What we seem to be missing here is that windows 7 users will eventually be forced to a different platform by the need for new hardware - not everyone has the know-how to "downgrade" their new laptop. If OEM's don't freak out, anyone who buys a new laptop in the next 5 years will be stuck with a copy windows 8.

Ideally, Microsoft will continue to offer windows 7 as an option on OEM machines (like they did with XP for netbooks). This would allow OEM's more time to come up with hardware better suited to windows 8. (big box retailers will still push windows 8 though)

The last option IS for OEM's to panic, and jump on with a different OS. Honestly, I love Ubuntu - it's a great OS that (when used wisely) can do everything windows does, and more... down to running starcraft 2 and crysis. Y'all might think gabe is crazy for being outspoken about this - but something needs to change. Microsoft is a very confused company right now.

But the average users who don't know how to downgrade to Windows 7 are already jumping to different platforms - iOS and Android, in the form of fast, cheap tablet PC's. What's left are the gamers dedicated enough to have the know-how, or capacity to learn, to downgrade Windows, and businesses who very likely will not be using Steam for their day-to-day operations. Not to mention the immensely large portion of gamers who don't care about hardware at all, and just want to play - these guys won't upgrade their PC until it actually dies, and will be using their current setups until years after Windows 8 is released. This is just another instance of Gabe putting his foot in his mouth with his outlandish, reactionary commentary on things he has little practical understanding of.

"This is just another instance of Gabe putting his foot in his mouth with his outlandish, reactionary commentary on things he has little practical understanding of." - Any simian who watched microsofts windows 8 demonstration videos can tell its not an OS made for desktops and laptops. Its main focus are touchscreens and that translates into a clunky interface for mouse based computers (the best gaming controller yet when associated with a keyboard). Gabes move makes sense, he's not ditching windows 8, but he can tell it wont be nearly as popular as windows 7.

But having used windows 8 for an extended prior with a mouse and keyboard, Metro suits perfectly to almost any input device - the Xbox demonstrates this with controller, motion and voice input that all work equally as well as the traditional KBM setup. Metro is not the issue. Windows 8's identity crisis is the issue - and it's one that has literally no effect on the functionality of any software within it. Gabe is literally making up problems that will not occur.

go download windows 8 beta install it try it out for a week and then come back and agree with Gabe. win7 ain't fading away in to oblivion but it is now considered old and soon after ms will shut it it down in order to force people to buy 8 also just for all those who don't know and have not realized it yet you been using Linux for the last couple of years or so, and hadn't realized it {android} yes that is linux soooooooo next time you pick up your phone to download an app or angry birds 12 remember your on Linux and you luv it and your computer will eventually be ran by android\linux\ wich ever users end up preferring cause when every one realizes this and migrates you willlo be the only one still probiding ms with bug reports

go download windows 8 beta install it try it out for a week and then come back and agree with Gabe. win7 ain't fading away in to oblivion but it is now considered old and soon after ms will shut it it down in order to force people to buy 8 also just for all those who don't know and have not realized it yet you been using Linux for the last couple of years or so, and hadn't realized it {android} yes that is linux soooooooo next time you pick up your phone to download an app or angry birds 12 remember your on Linux and you luv it and your computer will eventually be ran by android\linux\ wich ever users end up preferring cause when every one realizes this and migrates you willlo be the only one still probiding ms with bug reports